Umatilla Defeats Clermont

SPORTS BASEBALL

April 25, 1990|By Jeff Babineau Of The Sentinel Staff

CLERMONT — The Clermont Highlanders helplessly watched as their season was condensed into a seven-inning microcosm at Bishop Field on Tuesday afternoon. Umatilla's Ricky Timmerman baffled the Highlanders with an array of curveballs, and Clermont - as has been the case most of the spring - never caught up with them in a 2-1 Bulldogs' victory.

Not only did the victory put Umatilla (10-13) into Thursday's semifinals against top-seeded Eustis (7 p.m.), but Coach Bernie Carney said it gave the Bulldogs their first 10-victory season since the 1970s. The triumph also marked the second time in two years that Clermont (10-10-1) lost its first game in the district tournament at home.

''Tradition-wise, I guess this would be an upset, but we didn't feel it was an upset,'' said Carney, whose team split with the Highlanders during the regular season. ''Up until this year, it was a disgrace to be beaten by Umatilla. But this team has matured.''

No more is it a disgrace to lose to the Bulldogs. In Timmerman (6-5), the Bulldogs have one of the top pitchers in the district, and he proved it against Clermont. He limited the Highlanders to six hits and struck out 10 batters. Seven of his strikeouts came with Clermont runners on base.

The teams traded runs in the second inning. Mike Smith, who had two of Umatilla's four hits, led off the inning with a ground-rule double to the gap in left center, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a perfectly executed squeeze by sophomore Brent Gordon, who was batting from the left side. It was Gordon's first varsity at-bat.

Clermont tied the score in the bottom of the frame when Brett Clarke's single snuck past Doug Roth in the hole and scored Chris Griffin. The Highlanders had an excellent opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the third inning, putting runners on second and third with nobody out, but Timmerman induced Ricky Izquierdo into a popout before fanning Griffin and Blaine Thompson to get out of the jam.

The Bulldogs scored the game-winner in the fourth. Smith reached base on a two-out single, and consecutive walks to Tony Ferrell and Gordon chased Clarke from the mound. Mike Jones came on in relief, was worked for a full count by Joey Carpenter, and delivered high for ball four to force in a run.

Clarke and Jones, two seniors who had fine pitching careers at Clermont, went out throwing effectively for the most part. They combined on a four-hitter, and struck out nine between them. Clarke, who finished 4-6 this season despite an ERA around 2.15, took another in a line of tough losses.

''We hit the ball for about the first fourth of the season, and then hit about .220 after that,'' said Clermont Coach Bruce Kregloe. ''We didn't hit the curveball, and we had a lot of strikeouts. We had long, arching strokes, not the short strokes we should have had.

''I've had .500 seasons before, but this one was more frustrating because the potential on this team never developed. We didn't hit the ball. That was the story of the season.''